Beautiful Carvings
by RavenShira
Summary: Shinichi always kept his carvings a secret, only looking at them in private and hoping to find his soulmate on his own. It as like a mystery, with a priceless reward at it's end. Kaito had been scared to end up with Hakuba, but thankfully that ship had sailed. He was looking forward to finding his match. So how come they both find their soulmate and he refuses to listen? KaiShin
1. 1: A Beautiful Night for a Beautiful Gem

_Summary:_

 _In the age of internet, computers and telephones it wasn't all that hard to find your soulmate anymore, if you were really willing. Upon the birth of the soulmate somehow – like magic – the first words they would say to each other would be written on the skin of their match. There are still people who tend to keep the beautiful markings on their skin a secret, preferring to let destiny take it's course on it's own. Shinichi always kept his carvings a secret, only looking at them in private and hoping to find his soulmate on his own. It as like a mystery, with a priceless reward at it's end._

 _Kaito had looked at his carvings a little puzzled, but pleased non the less. Well, he had been scared to end up with Hakuba at one point, but that ship had thankfully sailed. He was looking forward to finding his match._

 _So how come they both find their soulmate and he refuses to listen?_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Beautiful Night for a Beautiful Gem**

* * *

Shinichi didn't know who had actually managed to convince him to take part in this madness. He was a homicide detective, often consulted and trusted by the police. Yet somehow his friends (read: Sonoko) had needled him endlessly until he finally caved and gave in. Now he stood, surrounded by a task force that seemed to live to show their incompetence, watching silently and being glared at for taking part in something that - while interesting – didn't really fall in his area of expertise. Not that he had a problem with solving the puzzle for the event or anything like that. It was just... a petty thief. Murderers were just more concerning in Shinichi's eyes.

Well, at least it seemed as if it would be challenging. He would even go so far as to say it could be fun.

Somehow it was all Sonoko's fault. She and her obsession with Kaitou KID and her uncle's competitive streak at besting that irritating, flashy thief. That was the reason why he was not here, instead of his original plans that involved spending his day at home, with a nice cup of coffee and his favorite Sherlock Holmes book. Or that new mystery novel. Some peace and quiet would have been welcome after the horrible week he had so far. It had been a busy week for criminals and Shinichi had really begun to question humanity since he had stumbled into a case each day. And one day had even involved two cases, one that had been a double suicide.

As it was, he would have loved a break, safe at home where normally no murders or crimes occurred. His safe heaven.

But when Sonoko had started, she had played the unfair advantage: Ran.

And Ran could probably get him to cut off his hair and enter monkshood, if she so desired.

So what if it had only taken her to stare at him pleadingly from Sonoko's side, eyes slightly wide and innocent. Since she was like a sister and rarely seemed to want anything from him, he had crumbled in an instant (much to Sonoko's glee as she had crackled when his defenses were utterly destroyed by pleading puppy eyes of a karate master).

Sighing he chanced a glance at the clock and rolled his eyes. Five more minutes until the event started. Shifting from foot to foot he recalled what he knew about the thief, that he had to catch without handing over to the police. No, his 'employer' was Sonoko, so that's where he had to deliver the thief. Fat chance of that. But he would 'try' and fail and that would be that.

Or if he caught him, he was sure as hell not handing him over to the mercies of one Sonoko Suzuki. He was not heartless.

Eying the tables that were placed around the room he frowned. Was that... blinking coming from under them?

Cautiously he stepped back two steps and ducked his head a little. Indeed, a small, white device was stuck under the table. Wide eyed he glanced at the clock, saw that there was only mere 5 seconds remaining and bolted out of the room, that exploded into colours, smoke and other substances just as he crossed the threshold. Wide eyed he turned back and blinked several times at the multi-coloured room, several task force members having the same colour as their surroundings, coughing and waving their hands to dissipate the smoke. Nakamori was cursing up a storm, but no one seemed to be able to move at all, the strange sticky substance making it hard to move around, almost like glue but not really. And coloured in neon colours.

Slightly speechless at the picture of mass destruction of what had a few seconds before been a prestige and spotless hall Shinichi opened and closed his mouth, while his eyes found the white dressed, bowed figure of the thief in the middle of it, not a speck of colour on his white suit that was suddenly not only the cleanliest thing inhabiting the chaos, but also almost radiant in the middle of all those colours.

A surprisingly young voice announced his triumph, holding up the Gem as if expecting to be applauded for his deed, sending Nakamori in a near apoplectic rage, struggling to move towards his target that easily danced out of his reach and disappeared with a swirl of his coat, laughing and racing to what Shinichi supposed would be the roof.

Heart pounding in excitement, Shinichi recalled the fastest way up for himself and set off in a fast sprint, feeling a rush of adrenaline as he begun his own chase. Never mind that he hadn't wanted to be here, he was nevertheless looking forward to match his wit against the elusive phantom thief's.

When he ran up the stairs he could almost see the trail end of the coat swishing around the corners slightly above him. He had to give it to Kid, he was in top form, but then again he had to to dance around the task force with such ease as he displayed.

The door to the rooftop opened with a forceful _**clang**_ and crashed close again. A few seconds later Shinichi arrived and ripped it open himself, stepping out into the cool night air barely out of breath, his gaze zeroing in on the silhouette that stood on the railing of the roof. A straight pose, with the gem held high above him.

For a split second Shinichi froze at the picture. It seemed ethereal in a way, and he was not sure why he hesitated to break the moment.

"A beautiful night..." Kaitou Kid sighed, back turned to Shinichi but obviously speaking to him as there was no one else he could have been talking to "... for a beautiful gem."

Fire raced across Shinichi's arm, his eyes widening in realization and disbelieve. He was blind-sided, utterly and completely stunned, almost dizzy at this occurrence. Yes, he had hoped to meet his match, his soul-mate one day. Imagined how they would meet, dreamed up different scenarios, because he was a romantic deep down somewhere. But to find it to be the most elusive Phantom Thief of the century?! Slack-jawed Shinichi reeled to get himself under control, however much he had imagined his first meeting to be, this one has never entered his mind. Just for a short moment he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to collect himself.

When he finally found his voice again and opened his eyes, the rooftop was empty. Only the blue gem glittered faintly under the moonlight.

That night sleep was hard to come by, his fingers tracing over his soul markings over and over.

 _ **A beautiful night for a beautiful gem.**_

Funny how he had never thought the words had been meant literally. Pressing his lips to the marks his mind formed a new resolve. He would catch Kid. Not for Sonoko, or the police, but for himself. It was funny how he had been reluctant before, and now it seemed like the most important thing to do. And he was desperately looking forward to it, for catching Kid was the only way to get his soul-mate.

* * *

A/N:

This work is my second serious fanfiction. My main focus will still be on the "To fall in love with..." series I've started, so I don't know how fast I will update. However I couldn't get this idea out of my head. I may pull in other authors if they are interested in it. I do hope it won't grow to be a monster like my other fanfiction :P  
Do tell me if you are interested in it and if you would like some more chapters.


	2. 2: You see but you don't observe

_**Chapter 2: You see but you don't observe**_

After the heist Shinichi was devouring information about Kaito Kid like someone possessed. Not that he let anyone know about it. Okay, maybe Ran gave him a suspicious look when he casually mentioned Kaitou Kid to Sonoko (and god could that girl talk about his soul-mate non stop. A well of information for sure, but Shinichi didn't want to be the person to tell her that Kid was his. Really.).

He also had a new ambition of making Sonoko stay far away from his match. Honestly, he had not waited for about 13 years to meet the person that would say the matching words on his wrist to him for the first time, just to let that madwomen interfere.

Even now he was wearing long sleeves despite the hot weather. The soul-marks were private, though in the time of internet, mobile phones and cameras it was getting harder to keep the words hidden, at least for famous people. And not everyone decided to follow that tradition. When Shinichi's mark appeared at his 7th birthday he instantly knew he didn't want the whole world to see these precious words. They were his, and his soul-mate's precious words, etched into skin in the handwriting of the other.

Even though he was fondly annoyed that his soul-mate had scribbled his words down his whole forearm, in a loopy elegant handwriting that almost bordered on calligraphy. Really, talk about a mark that's eye catching. And hard to hide.

Besides that, really who said " _ **A beautiful night for a beautiful gem**_ " to another person when they meet the first time?

Burying his head in his sands he tried not to think about how he had always (in a kind of girly-romantic way, not that he would _ever_ admit to that fact) thought that the person had at least be talking about _**him**_.

He would have never guessed it would be a real gem. At night. And the words from a thief.

A male thief.

He was in deep shit.

And he still didn't know what to say to Kid in return, when they next met. He didn't want to say something stupid. Bad enough that whatever he said would be etched into his match's arm in his chicken-scratch (he had no patience to write elegantly, he was practical and he often had to scribble something down fast. As long as he could read it it was fine. Until he came about that tiny little fact and by then it had been way to late, his poor match was stuck with his horrible handwriting).

* * *

❶❹❶❷

* * *

Kaito was in the library. He was looking around and finally found the right shelve for his favorite book ' _Les aventures d'Arsène Lupin_ '.

Only to find the spot empty. Huffing impatiently he turned to head out again, thinking his time wasted, when he saw someone sitting in one of the comfortable seats near the window. With a familiar book on the table. Looking closer he raised his eyebrow when he actually recognized one Shinichi Kudou, homicide detective and college student. Why he would read Arsène Lupin, and in French no less, was a mystery to Kaito. He would have thought that a detective wouldn't like that book all that much. Hakuba definitely despised it.

Without conscious thought he stepped closer.

"Are you reading Arsène Lupin?"

Slowly Shinichi lowered his book and blinked at Kaito, as if only now realizing he was there. Quite unobservant of the detective, if Kaito might say so.

Then an eyebrow climbed a little, the gaze darting to the table and back to Kaito, before a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"You see, but you don't observe."

The sentence sent a jolt through Kaito, eyes suddenly wide and any thought of keeping his poker-face shattered. It felt like the letters he had so often caressed on his wrist suddenly burned in recognition of his other half. His soul-mate. And it was a detective no less!

Without waiting for an invitation he jumped into the seat across from Shinichi, feeling almost giddy with happiness.

"Kuroba Kaito, nice to meet you!"

Shinichi smiled, dimples showing in the corner of his mouth as he reached over to takes Kaito's hand, only to startle at the rose popping up, deep red and the most beautiful Kaito was carrying that day. He seemed to be a little bemused when he took the rose.

"Kudou Shinichi."

"So, what are you doing here?" Kaito glanced at all the books that were stacked around Shinichi. His eyebrow rose when he realized a lot of the books were about thieves and magicians. He even spied a few articles about his secret identity. Now that he looked closer he found more than a few.

"Are you a Kaitou Kid fan?" Kaito asked exited and leant forward.

Shinichi looked at the stack of papers – most of them concerning or about the moonlight magician - and flushed a little, ducking his head and coughing into his hand.

"Ah... not... really. I thought I would try something new and he seemed interesting enough." Shinichi lifted a shoulder "I'll try my hand at catching him I guess."

Kaito felt his stomach pummel. That was not what he had hoped to hear from his soul-mate, but he could hardly fault him. Shinichi was a detective, it was not surprising.

"Aren't you a homicide detective?" he really didn't want Shinichi chasing after him before he actually got the chance to get to know his match and maybe convince Shinichi to not turn him in. Or explain the situation. He was not sure how he would fare against the detective. While he was confident in his abilities, even he had heard about Shinichi. Just because he hadn't informed himself about the young detective enough (yet), even he knew that Shinichi was highly intelligent and – to add to that – very active so he would probably have little problems following Kaito. He knew that the detective could be dangerous, even though he was counting on his ability to escape nevertheless.

The problem was more that he was attracted to Shinichi. Not only was this his soul-mate, he was intelligent – enough to properly challenge his mind. And... well, he looked gorgeous. As such he did not really want to run from him and might make some stupid decisions when it came to his interaction with Shinichi. No one said that he wasn't reckless. And he was itching to tease Shinichi and match their wills against each other. In a playful way though, not one that would end with either him in prison or Shinichi never trusting him again.

"Yees..." Shinichi's answer was a little slow, stretching the word as if he was looking for what to say himself "I normally concentrate on homicide, that's certainly true. However..." here the detective looked down at the newspaper in his hand, expression morphing into a frown "... it does get tiring to be confronted with so much violence all the time." at this he shrugged his shoulder "I guess that's why I find Kaito Kid intriguing. It's a challenge, but usually there is no violence occurring. Could be a nice change."

Kaito blinked twice, trying to put his mindset into the detective's. From a certain point of view he could understand what Shinichi said, but he had not thought of how many cases Shinichi had to be involved in to actually appear in the newspaper so often.

Hell, he might even be flattered by Shinichi's high opinion of Kid's character. Maybe even thrilled by the praise.

That is, if his soul-mate was not insisting on pursuing his criminal counterpart in the name of justice.

That just sucked.

Big time.

When he got home later he was a bundle of confused emotions.

For one: He met his soul-mate.

For another: Said soul-mate did not appear to notice being his soul-mate?

Thirdly: His soul-mate was going to hunt his alter-ego.

Lastly? He got Shinichi's phone number and couldn't be happier.

* * *

❶❹❶❷

* * *

When Shinichi got home he was bemused at the new acquaintance he made, but Kaito was a nice fellow. He was bright, intelligent, playful, open, helpful and friendly. It was also rather funny that he liked doing magic tricks. Most of them Shinichi had been able to see through, though sometimes Kaito had even him stumped. Which was interesting, since it took a good magician to be able to fool Shinichi, and Kaito was his age, about twenty.

It was really easy to talk to him and while Shinichi had been slightly annoyed to be interrupted in his intelligence gathering, he had also been glad for the break it allowed him. Maybe he was going at this with too much of a singleminded determination. Ran had already called two times to remind him to eat, so he had grabbed some take-out on the way home.

As he finally reached his house he let himself in, towed off his shoes and put his bag on the floor next to the chair in the kitchen. Sitting down he pulled his food closer and begun to devour it when his phone indicated an incoming message.

[18:27] Kaito Kuroba: "You got home all right?"

Smirking a little he shoved another fork into his mouth before replying.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Chapter two finally done. Actually I have parts of chapter 3 and 5 ready. Chapter 4 is stubborn and unwilling to be written as of now.

Well, I do hope to get a few more reviews. The story is planned with 5 chapters and I really like to read what my readers think about it. So be kind and leave me a comment :3 It's keeping me motivated to write more!

I know the chapters are shorter than the ones in Tfi but I just wanted to write a small romance story for a change because my other plot is slowly strangling me x_x

Till next time!

Shira~


	3. 3: A Game of Cat and Mouse

_**Chapter 3: A Game of Cat and Mouse**_

* * *

The problem with catching Kid was not only his irregular heist-schedule and that they were often announced on a very short notice. It was also the fact that he himself was hard to catch and in part unpredictable. While Shinichi was able to follow his thought-process to a point and even corner Kid, the thief proved to be slippery like a fish. If anything, Kid was a master at thinking on his feet and his other talents just helped along. It was unfair that someone could disguise so well and change his voice on top of it.

The hardest part was still cornering Kid without actually leaving him no way out, since all Shinichi wanted to do was talk to the guy. It would suck if their first talk would be through a glass-panel. That, and it would be awkward to talk to your soul-mate after you just helped imprison him. It would probably not endear Shinichi to Kid.

For the time in between the heists Shinichi had decided to do his research, which had him sitting in the library and going over old articles and whatever else he could get his hands on about the thief. So far there had been just one other heist, but Shinichi had the unfortunate luck to get into another case on the way to the museum. Deciding a murder warranted his attention more than his harmless thief-soul-mate, he had decided to stick around. Grudgingly. Thus he had missed most of the heist and had only seen the hang-glider disappear in the distance. Yes, he was not exactly happy that his soul-mate had to be a criminal, however as far as being a criminal went, he didn't see Kid as someone who really did bad stuff.

Annoying the hell out of you? Definitely.

Exasperating to the point that you want to kill yourself by banging your head against the next wall? Regularly.

Criminal enough to deserve a prison sentence? Not soooo much. Maybe a hefty fine for all the trouble he caused. And for the therapy bills of the Task Force. And whatever mess Kid's latest trick left behind to clean up. Property damage should probably also be included.

Maybe he should stop musing just how large a fine Kid would have to pay. It just seemed to add up more and more and Shinichi was not sure if him, his parents and whatever financial support Kid had (his heists and stuff were not exactly cheap) pulled together would be enough to actually pay it off.

Anyway, this opinion was not only formed because of Kid being his soul-mate. It was the absolute no-harm policy that seemed to be the first and only rule in Kid's heists. Often times he went out of his way to stick to that one rule, sometimes Shinichi thought he had even been helping out, in his own, weird way, while pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. Or at least trying to.

No, as for criminals Shinichi was sure that he could live with Kid being what he was, though he would like an explanation, a reason for the behaviour.

So far Shinichi had found out several things about Kid, due to newspapers and online articles.

He had a no-harm policy.

He was searching for something. This something was probably a gem.

The heists almost always occurred at full-moons, or the stone was given back after a full-moon.

He disliked his name being used and retaliated. (And no, he had not thought about using that just to get Kid to come out of hiding. He was not that crazy. Yet. [Nobody had to know that this was right now an option for a last resort plan.])

He could not Ice Skate (if someone on one of the Forums that seemed uncommonly informed was to be believed. Shinichi was inclined to trust him, as he had several rather intriguing comments. It had nothing to do with the user-name that included Sherlock Holmes, nothing at all).

If he read it right and combined his knowledge of the Kid he had known before as a child, this was not the same person.

He was a great magician and a master at slight-of hand, disguising and manipulating his voice.

He obviously could pick locks.

He had energy like a rabbit on crack.

He was very creative.

He liked to give a show.

He was a gentleman, and apparently a flirt where it concerned woman.

He had an eidetic memory.

He could shoot. (Card-Gun and his Grappling-hook gun)

He could paraglide.

He could think on his feet.

He was highly intelligent.

He was handsome, as far as he could tell from the appearance under the suit.

He was very athletic.

...

Shinichi palmed his face because he knew he could go on and on for quite a while yet – he was besotted and he knew it. And he had not even gotten the chance to say something back to Kid and thus make the thief aware of them being _soul-mates_.

By now he had several words he wanted to say. But however he turned and twisted them... they seemed corny somehow. He wanted something simple, yet sincere and important. A casual 'hello' like it was found on many wrists would not do.

However just sprouting poetry at the thief? Not going to happen either, bedsides, where would the meaning be inside those words? And to add to that, he would have to get Kid and keep him still. And it shouldn't be too much or whatever was written on his match's arm would be too long.

It was a horrible mess.

And Shinichi had the goddamn temptation to shout "221 Baker Street" at Kid, just to get some Sherlock Holmes to stick. But it was a little too much (and maybe petty) to force his soul-mate to carry a Sherlock Holmes quote. He shouldn't do that to his match, no matter how tempting. And oh, the irony of a thief having a detective's quote on his arm...

But if Kid refused to actually _talk_ to Shinichi, that's what he would get.

After dismissing a Sherlock Holmes quote (despite how funny he found it and no matter how tempting and arousing and... no. He should really stop thinking about his soul-mates mark that way.), Shinichi had thought maybe his thief would appreciate something related to gentleman thieves.

On a spur of the moment decision he had actually gone to get different books about thieves. Gentleman thieves especially. So far he had read ' _The Great Train Robbery_ ' with a burglar named Edward Pierce and a children's book 'The Thief Lord', as well as Maurice Leblanc's ' _Les aventures d'Arsène Lupin_ '. So far Maurice work was the most promising but Shinichi was hesitant about using a quote from that book too. How would his mate feel having that sentence on his wrist during childhood and actually turning into a thief later on?

Which, you know... was also kind of ironic, if he grew up with the words and then somehow turned out to be one. Shinichi was concerned that maybe he would say a quote like that and those words were also part of the reason that his soul-mate turned to thievery. But either way, it was too late already to change it.

Rubbing his eyes he put the books away and sighed. He did not even know if he could actually make a decision on what to say to his soul-mate. Just because he knew his soul-mate and had yet to talk to him, did not mean that the fated words wouldn't be surprised out of his mouth. He had found nothing on the topic of being able to influence a soul-mark. But Shinichi was willing to try anyways. Filling his head with useful quotes and other stuff in hopes a situation would spring up where he would be able to use the knowledge was probably the most he was able to do.

As it was, not much was known about soul-marks, despite them being around for a rather long time already. There were few people willing to reveal their marks, much less let them be studied by scientists. No one really knew where they came from. So far only few things had been determined about the marks. And since meeting his own match, Shinichi had also decided to freshen up his knowledge in that corner of wisdom.

If you have a soul-mate, you would get your mark on your 7th birthday. If the age difference is bigger than 7 years, the older mate would get his mark upon the birth of his soul-mate.

Upon death a soul-mark disappears. Thus a blank arm could also mean your soul-mate died before your 7th birthday, or was simply not born yet.

Some people have more than one sentence. It rarely happens and as far as Shinichi was able to put together, it could mean more than one soul-mate. But it was more guessed. Shinichi thought it probably had to do with it being had to actually find _one_ soul-mate, much less two.

Lastly – and this Shinichi could confirm – was that you would definitely know if the words spoken were from your soul-match. People with a simple 'hello' on their wrists could still find the right person. Simply because it felt as if the words caught on fire, a tickling warm sensation, burning and yet gentle. In this Shinichi envied and pitied people with those words on their wrist. For one they would always get that feeling when they greeted their match, on the other hand it would probably loose it's special exceptionality being used so often. Shinichi himself wanted to actually hear those words from his soul-mate again and again. But not in front of strangers.

* * *

• • **S** • •

* * *

It took another four heists for Shinichi to be sure that Kaitou Kid was avoiding him. Him, of all detectives, despite the fact that they had never really met, except for that one evening and Shinichi hadn't even been able to get his words out, so that Kid would realize that they were soul-mates. Four goddamn heists. Which meant four and a half months waiting for an opportunity and failing. He was not used to failure. It was humiliating, frustrating and it made him all the more determined to get his hands on Kid, if only to shake him by that annoying, perfectly fitting, impeccable suit of his. Yes! He was at a point where he would resort to physical violence _before_ getting to the talking part! But Kid so deserved a soccer ball to his arse for all the running around and avoiding and getting Shinichi distracted by terribly unforgiving means. To sic some kids on him like rabid dogs was just plain cruel. He didn't dislike kids but he was just... not...

Okay, maybe he was a total sucker for kids. It was embarrassing as hell, especially since he knew that the girl had cried crocodile tears for sweets promised by Kaito Kid. Damn it, the thief must be dying from laugher that this plan actually worked. However the hell Kid had found out this weakness was a complete mystery to Shinichi. It was not like he was surrounded by kids day in day out! Hardly ever.

And was Shinichi really to blame for being over eager to catch Kid? Only he had to catch him while they were out of reach and hearing range of the Task Force. Which made it almost impossible. And a lot more challenging. It had been a challenge not to curse after his soul-mate and only knowing that he would regret it deeply if his soul-mate was marked with such foul language for the rest of his life kept his mouth firmly shut during the heist until he would finally find a moment of peace and quiet, preferable with Kid and him alone in the same room. Or hallway. Or roof.

A bit downtrodden he sat down in the chairs of his new favorite café in Ekoda. It didn't even take more than fifteen minutes until a familiar bundle of energy invited himself to his company, sliding in a smooth motion onto the seat across from him.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Kaito asked, concerned and Shinichi attempted a weak smile, but probably failed if Kaito's expression was so be believed. He wanted to put his arms on the table and bury his head in misery. Self pity was not his usual style but Shinichi was also not known being the most patient person living on earth. He didn't know how often he got scolded for charging recklessly ahead (by Ran first of all but also several members of the police, despite them not being better themselves most of the time).

"It's not important." he mumbled mournfully, because how could he admit that his soul-mate was an internationally known and hunted jewel-thief? He would never gain access to another heist if that got out and Kid would never actually know his soul-mate was barred from him. Or maybe he would or did know and that's why he was avoiding him.

Flinching slightly he raised his head and looked a little baffled at the warm cup Kaito had used to nudge his arm. Coffee!

Eagerly reaching out he pulled the cup greedily towards himself, ignoring Kaito's chuckles (lovely sound) and sipping a little. Then he used the cup to scowl darkly inside of it. It was simply utterly unfair. He had found his match. He was sure he had finally found someone on the same level (otherwise Kid would have been caught long ago), someone he could talk to and not be bored with. While he was not happy about the being-a-criminal stuff, he had contemplated that long enough to come to the conclusion that there were worse things to be. Besides: Kaitou Kid never harmed anyone and gave back the treasures he stole. Whatever his reasons (and Shinichi burned to know them), he was not evil. And maybe Shinichi would be a good influence on him?

Now, if Shinichi would be able to find out why Kid was so obsessed with not meeting him, that would be great. Or maybe Kid did know about that issue, and that was why he was avoiding him? Maybe Kid didn't want to be with him or feared his reaction.

Shoulders slumping a little he continued to stare into the murky brown depths of his cup, until a hand reached over and snapped his fingers right under his nose.

"Earth to Shinichi? You listening?"

Blinking he looked up and flushed slightly in embarrassment "I'm sorry... you were saying...?"

And then of course there was Kaito. Who – if Shinichi's mind wasn't set on at least talking to his soul-mate once in this lifetime – would have made him fall in love with, despite the writing on his arm indicating a different match. Because there was no guarantee to find your match. Of course he had found someone like Kaito _after_ meeting his soul-mate! Though maybe he should be glad to not be put before the decision between a lover and his soul-mate. Or at least not yet.

* * *

• • **K** • •

* * *

Kaito liked Shinichi. A lot. The guy was intelligent, had a hidden humor, was attractive and – you wouldn't believe it – was simply adorable. Kaito loved his smiles, his wit, his eyes that lit up at any mention of soccer or Sherlock Holmes or coffee. It was like giving a kid his Christmas present early. Maybe he should be more concerned about this coffee-addiction Shinichi was harbouring but then again, his own chocolate-addiction was no less harmful. While Shinichi probably had to look forward to insomnia and headaches, he would probably succumb to diabetes, so they would both enjoy their bad habits until it reached that point. Besides, it brought Shinichi so much joy and Kaito was helpless in face of that blinding smile. Kaito had to keep himself together or he would melt into a puddle of chocolate at the sight every time.

Maybe (more like most surely) Kaito was even a little in love already, but then again this was his soul-mate! It was still so rare to find your soul-mate, despite it getting easier due to modern devices, that Kaito had not often given it much thought before, though he had hidden the carved words that were wrapped around his wrist and was now (as Kaitou Kid) deeply grateful for his foresight. How much easier would it be to identify him if anyone knew of his words? Despite that he felt a little guilty every time he used make-up (a lot of it) and fake skin (just to be sure) and a bandage to wrap the mark up before each heist. Besides it was always useful to have a few extra silk-scarves up ones sleeve.

Worse though were the times he had to impersonate another person, who didn't hide their mark. Using fake skin and painting another soul-mark on his arm almost felt like cheating, now more so than ever since he actually met his match. It was disconcerting to stare down at his bare forearm and see different words and another handwriting there. It was... uncomfortable and jarring, but necessary.

But really, right now the thing he dreaded most during heist was actually sitting in front of him, looking a little miserable and Kaito felt a guilty twitch in his heart knowing that he was partly responsible for that expression on Shinichi's face. He really wished he could wipe it away, but whenever he tried to get closer to Shinichi... well, Shinichi seemed to want to respond but at the same time pulled away. And he was absolutely obsessed with catching Kid. It was confusing as hell and Kaito was desperate. He did not want Shinichi to know that he was Kaitou Kid but he couldn't trust himself to not give anything away to Shinichi. So his best course of action was to avoid, avoid, avoid the detective like the plague.

Except that it made Shinichi all the more determined to get his alter ego. A few times Kaito had definitely broken out into sweat and just narrowly escaped. At one point he had wondered if Shinichi had not been able to actually cut his last escape off, but he had reached the door first and thus escaped into freedom. But he did wonder. Shinichi had been the slightest bit closer to the door than him. And he was a damn good runner, as he had gotten to know by now.

After that escape he had actually resorted to bribing children. Because he had seen Shinichi comforting a child on the street that had lost his parents when they had been together like right now, and he had seen the way Shinichi had been wrapped around the little guys finger in seconds. Enough to agree to a piggy-back ride and even an ice-cream while they searched for the little ones family.

Well... he would just have to be creative and hope Shinichi would loose interest somehow. Maybe he should look into ways to keep Shinichi occupied during his heist. If Shinichi didn't show up to them, there was no risk at being caught red handed.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Sorry for the long wait, but I was busy in real life. I really should write more in my main story Tfi and I regret I haven't been able to post anything there for so long, however I am a little stuck in chapter 17.

As it is, this story is not nearly as complicated and not only did I finally finish chapter 3, I have already started Chapter 4 and I think I am about halfway to the end of it! Another two chapters to go before I finish this story.

Because of that I have a question to you guys: Besides Tfi I have 2 more ideas. One is a separate story in itself, the other would be a sequel to this story here. I wanted your opinion!

Blank Canvas (Sequel to Beautiful Carvings):  
After meeting his soul-mate and struggling to recognize each other, Shinichi would have thought the worst over. With a happy ending. But apparently he had pissed of some higher power because now he was stuck in a six year old body and was scared to death that his soul-mate had died. His arm was blank!

Two Sides of the Same Coin (Separate Story):  
Kaito had found the love of his life in Shinichi Kudou. Despite Shinichi attracting a whole bunch of trouble, he had never minded all the chaos that seemed to be pulled towards his detective. That is, until Kaitou Kid stepped into the picture and couldn't seem to mind his ow business and keep the finger off someone clearly taken! In another universe Kaito would have revered Kaitou Kid for being the great magician he was. Right now? He was just pissed off.

So tell me what you think. I am very interested in both ideas, and neither is fully finished in my head. I like having another story to pick on while I try to unravel the mess that Tfi had proven to be...

Other than that? Thank you. So, so much. Because you are all awesome and I love your reviews and Kudo's and everything. Please continue to tell me your opinion on this story, it motivates me to continue writing it!


	4. 4: Operation: Seduction

_**Chapter 4: Operation: "Seduction"**_

* * *

It had been about seven months since he had found Shinichi in the library. That meant about 6 of his heists the detective had attended trying to apprehend him and forcing Kaito to absolutely ridiculous stunts to escape. And Kaito? Was not one step closer to his soul-mate than before. Which was... baffling and confusing and absolutely not acceptable.

Okay, so his soul-mate refused to acknowledge being his soul-mate. Kaito was pretty sure something like this should be against the rules. Even more frustrating was Shinichi's obsession with Kaitou Kid. Oh, he was kinda flattered that Shinichi was chasing after him. But... he was also god-damn jealous of the attention his alter ego received. He was … jealous of himself and had no way to help himself with that. Except stop the heists which was not an option at all.

He wanted to cry. It simply wasn't fair.

Since this was obviously a very complicated and strange situation, it stood to reason that he should take drastic measures to change it.

And thus he had gotten his mind stuck on operation "Seduction". Since his soul-mate was apparently clue-less or a damn good actor, he would force Shinichi to acknowledge him!

* * *

Operation Seduction – first try: Getting into Shinichi's personal space

As so often he had found Shinichi in the café in Edoka. Despite knowing that his detective was actually living closer to Beika, Shinichi seemed to frequent this café a lot. When asked for the reason Shinichi had shrugged, said they had damn good coffee and no one seemed to bother him here. Well, Kaito wouldn't complain because otherwise he would need to find an excuse for visiting Beika regularly without seeming stalker-ish to the detective.

This day instead of sitting opposite to Shinichi, Kaito simply dared to take the space next to Shinichi, squeezing himself onto the bench and practically forcing Shinichi to press himself into the corner. Not the best way for him to get his way, but like this Shinichi wouldn't be able to escape easily.

"Hey, what'cha doing?" leaning over he tried to get a glance at whatever Shinichi was studying. Absent-minded he conjured one of his roses and tucked it behind Shinichi's ear.

"Urgh. Kaito... shove off!" the elbow digging into his rips only made him contort a little and poke Shinichi back, causing the detective to roll his eyes and let out an exasperated huff. Still, he carefully took the rose and put it besides his papers. Kaito grinned unrepentantly and sidled closer. All he accomplished was a face full of papers in return but okay, maybe he was coming on a little strong. Backing of a bit he snatched up the papers and stared down at the newspaper detailing his last heist. Figures.

"Kaitou Kid again? Man, you sure are stubborn."

Shinichi put his arms on the table and moaned. Kaito did not twitch at the sound, neither was he shifting from side to side. Nope.

"I nearly broke my neck last night. Really, for all that he has a no harm rule in place, letting loose some marbles in the stairway to slow me down is just plain evil."

Kaito forced himself to smile at that and not wince in memory. That was not exactly how he remembered the occurrence taking place, nor how he would have described the happenings thereafter. Before that heist he had tried to stop Shinichi from attending at all, however it seemed Shinichi was just as wily as he was and more than able to sidestep some of his plans. Instead of being unable to attend, Shinichi had arrived just in the nick of time to see him steal the jewel, already out of breath and looking almost deliciously mussed up and out of breath from running. In other words: He had been so distracting that Kaito almost missed his cue to drop the smoke-bombs and run away.

So far he had not missed one heist, no matter how much Kaito had schemed, somehow he always found a way to circuit around his carefully constructed plans. One of his backup plans in case Shinichi appeared had been to slow Shinichi down by using marbles on the stairwell, forcing Shinichi to look where he went. He had been sure of himself and assured that Shinichi was intelligent enough to not risk breaking his neck by blindly running after him.

He sure had regretted it fast. Until that day he had not known that Shinichi was a damn good shot and regular soccer player himself. Sure, he had known Shinichi liked soccer, but he had not known him to be a player. A damn good player that could shoot with an accuracy that should require a license. Now he was sure that he never wanted to put multiple small baubles in front of Shinichi's evil kicking powers, because that had ended up with him almost loosing an eye. Multiple times, as the harmless marbles turned into extremely dangerous missiles.

"Really? That sucks." Kaito commiserated instead, opting to keep the terrible memories at bay before he gave himself away.

"But I do admire your zeal to keep going..." Kaito added faintly, hoping that Shinichi didn't hear the trepidation colouring his voice, while Shinichi seemed to grow even more depressed in front of his eyes. He didn't like seeing Shinichi like that and knowing it was his fault. He also didn't want to encourage Shinichi to keep hunting Kid. As it was he was stuck at an impasse. Reaching out he patted Shinichi's back a little.

"It's not like this is the end. Didn't you just solve another case? I heard about it. You are awesome!" he needed to cheer Shinichi up, if only for his own peace of mind.

He was not prepared for Shinichis arms to come around him and the quiet "Thanks..." that followed. Nor the smile as Shinichi seemed to regain his zest for action. Gathering his papers he stood and after a final squeeze of Kaito's shoulders excused himself with a radiant smile and a rose carefully held in his free hand. Kaito was left staring after him in a daze and with a probably pretty goofy smile on his lips, before he remembered his plan.

Darn. Apparently something in his words had encouraged Shinichi again.

 **Operation Seduction – first try: Failure? (Getting hugged by Shinichi though!** (◍•ᴗ•◍) )

* * *

Operation Seduction – second try: Getting Shinichi flowers

His next plan was to spam Shinichi with flowers. If it worked in films and often in real life situations, it should work for him and Shinichi. Besides he had a lot of flowers at hand, he should be able to make Shinichi one of the most beautiful bouquets ever seen. And that should make his interest known to the observant detective. Right?

Apparently not. Shinichi had taken the pretty bouquet of flowers that all consisted of Flowers with the meaning of love and hope and other romantic ideals in flower language, looked at it, then at Kaito and stated in a wondering voice that he had no idea where Kaito could have hidden them.

"Those single roses I could explain..." Shinichi said, shrugging his shoulders and looking down at the flowers in his hand "But you really stumped me with this. Let me think about it?"

Okay, Kaito thought as he watched Shinichi go away with the flowers non the wiser, maybe he had overdone it in their previous meetings with his flower trick and getting Shinichi flowers now was just... too normal. Damn.

 **Operation Seduction – second try: Failure due to target being oblivious** ( ´•̥̥̥ ω•̥̥̥` )

* * *

Operation Seduction – third try: Holding hands

Not one to be discouraged easily Kaito simply changed his tactics again. If flowers didn't work, he would have to step up his game and let actions speak the truth.

He obviously needed to be bolder. Take the lead. So... holding hands it was.

So they were once more sitting in the café and he just reached over and took Shinichi's hand.

Awkward silence.

Shinichi looked down at their joined hands, a puzzled look crossing his face, before looking up at Kaito. He seemed to come to some kind of conclusion, because next Kaito saw was one of those pretty smiles and Shinichi pressed his hand reassuringly.

Kaito had _**no**_ idea what it meant. But he was pretty sure it wasn't what he had intended it to.

Oh well, at least he got to hold Shinichi's hand and Shinichi didn't seem to mind that he didn't let go after they left the café either.

 **Operation Seduction – third try: Failure? (we did hold hands?)** ʅ(• - •?)ʃ ?

* * *

Operation Seduction – fourth try: Trying to kiss

Well. It started nice enough. They were outside, the weather was nice, and Kaito was trying to subtly lead them towards a secluded spot after getting ice cream. He even remembered Shinichi's dislike for sweets and got him a really sour lemon flavour. That hadn't been easy to find, since most still tended to taste sweet. And just as he had been about to lean in for a taste of Shinichi's ice cream (as Shinichi didn't know he had worked himself through several stores to find that sour ice cream to begin with, causing him the stomach ache two days before, where he had to cancel one of their dates-that-were-not-really-dates...), a god damn corps just fell in front of them, splattering them in blood and gore and... kind of ruining the whole setup Kaito had painstakingly worked out!

Kaito was not sure whether to be angry or horrified at that moment. He did not get confronted with dead bodies jumping him out of nowhere like in a bad zombie apocalypse movie. As it was he got a very nice view of Shinichi's backside whenever he knelt down to inspect something, as well as the fascinating image of seeing Shinichi at work. He still could have done without the corpse.

And he would have been happier with his kiss.

 **Operation Seduction – fourth try: Failure. Falling corpse crashed the date.** (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

* * *

Operation Seduction – fifth try: Candlelight dinner (hopefully corpse safe)

It was going well. Okay, maybe he had used an excuse because Shinichi had looked a little sceptical at being brought to a high class restaurant. At least there should be no corpses, right? So with the excuse of his mother having a reservation, but her date cancelled, he had brought Shinichi here and was happily talking to him. It was going well. It was great. They were relaxed and even indulged in a little wine. And maybe Kaito would finally get a chance to actually confess his feelings. He was nervous as hell, but had promised himself that as soon as they were finished eating he would confess, no matter what. And he was so eager to finally get to that part that he had to restrain himself not to stuff his face with the food in front of him just to get there finally. It was torture to dance around the issue.

"Shinichi..." finally they were finished and he smiled shyly at his soul-mate, who blinked back a little confused but as always interested. Reaching over to take his hand he took a deep breath and opened his mouth when a couple passed their table in excitement "-and they say Kid is going to appear this evening, it's such a coincidence we are so close. We really should attend! It's a great spectacle and I always wanted to be on one of his shows!" the girl said and suddenly Shinichi was gone from his table and in front of the pair, interrogating them. When he returned he had a sparkle in his eyes, excitement making his body nearly shake. He was beautiful.

"Sorry Kaito! I gotta run!" leaning forward Shinichi gave him a small peck on the cheek "Thanks for the dinner, next time I'll invite you and pay!"

And then he was gone, Kaito gaping after him and touching his cheek. He was a bit unsure about what had happened just now. Well, he had been dumped. More or less. But he also got a kiss out of it (even if it was on his cheek, Kaito would consider it a win!). Besides, he only got dumped because of his alter ego.

…

Wait. Which heist?!

 **Operation Seduction – fifth try: Failure. Someone put out a fake Kid heist note. I'm going to kill him. Slowly**. (╬ Ò ‸ Ó)

* * *

…

… …

… … …

* * *

Operation Seduction – twenty-something (think it was eight?) try: Getting Shinichi drunk

Really, getting Shinichi to drink alcohol had taken a lot of convincing and Shinichi had only agreed reluctantly when he promised it would be in Shinichi's house, while watching a movie. Just some harmless fun between the two of them. Kaito had learned how to mix cocktails just for this evening and bought a few different alcohols and other stuff. He was curious about a few of the cocktails himself so they would be trying them out one at a time.

He had promised himself not to do anything to Shinichi though, no matter how attractive Shinichi was in his half drunken state. Never would he do something like that and using Shinichi's trust and vulnerability against him.

Okay, maybe it was more of a Seduction mission of getting himself drunk enough to have the courage to confess. That and cuddle with Shinichi, who didn't seem to mind at all by the way he was practically pushing his way half on Kaito's lap. Well. His head was on his lap at least and Kaito was trying not to think of anything indecent. Instead he begun to pet Shinichi's head, who enjoyed the attention and grumbled every time Kaito's hand stopped moving for too long. It was charming and captivating and Kaito wanted to spend all of his evenings like this.

When the movie was over he cradled Shinichi close, heart beating up a storm and his palms already sweaty from nervousness. And then he stuttered out his confession.

"... say again...?" Shinichi said, face unreadable and eyes flat and a little hazy. Oh god he was going to get turned down, wasn't he?

"I... like you. A lot." he coughed into his hand "Like... more than only like."

"... more than only like."

"More like... love?" he did not squeak. Oh god, this was embarrassing. Did he just squeak?! Pulling on his poker face he took Shinichis hand into his, causing the other boy to startle slightly. The almost indifferent mask cracked and a slight blush spread over his cheeks. It made for an adorable sight, Kaito thought wistfully.

"I love you..." he said, heart pounding in his chest and drawing Shinichi closer to himself "Would you go on a date with me?" they were standing close, his own voice had dipped into a husky whisper. This close he could feel the shiver that ran through Shinichis body, the hand in his own tightened just a little and the blue eyes were roaming over his face, searching for something and at the same time seeming very uncertain. Almost shy.

Shinichi took a shaky breath. Kaito closed another bit of the distance between them, very careful as if he thought that any hasty movement would send Shinichi scurrying away like a scared animal.

"Please..."

"... Kaito..." Shinichis own voice was barely above a whisper, however it seemed to beg for Kaito to stop. The thief had no intention of following the request, not when he was finally this close to getting through to Shinichi.

"Please." he repeated, softly. Carefully he raised their linked hands and placed a chaste kiss on Shinichis hand. Again he felt a faint shudder run through the detectives body, Shinichi was tugging on his hand, weakly, as if he himself wasn't convinced he wanted to be free. Kaito used that moment to place another kiss on Shinichis pulse, all the while looking through his bangs up to Shinichi, who was staring at him, mouth slightly parted and seemingly unable to tear his gaze away.

"... Kaito, we can't..." once more Shinichi tried to push away, but confusingly enough he didn't sound like he wanted to mean that.

"Why not...?" Kaito held on drawing Shinichi all the way to him and resting his head on Shinichis shoulder.

Shinichi didn't answer. For a while Kaito was just holding him, before he looked down.

Shinichi was asleep.

* * *

。・゜゜・ ✿ ・゜゜・。

* * *

When Shinichi woke up to the smell of coffee he groaned in a deep raspy, sleep induced voice that went straight to Kaito's groin, while he was holding out a glass of water, nudging it gently against Shinichi's cheek. His other hand was holding the coffee, well aware that the drink would be needed to get Shinichi to function.

He felt giddy and nervous and having Shinichi _in his bed_ was doing _things_ to him. Oh so nervous because Shinichi knew now and... had that been a rejection? If so, then Kaito believed he was owed an explanation at least.

"Water first." he said lowly, chuckling a little when Shinichi blindly groped around for the glass before reaching it and cracking one eye open slightly.

He sat up a little and moaned in pain, holding a hand to his head and Kaito felt a little spike of pity, since his plan had put Shinichi in his misery. He couldn't regret it since he himself had finally confessed, even if Shinichi had not answered yet. At least it was out in the open now.

He sat on the bed and let out a shaky breath, handing over the coffee after Shinichi had finished the water, his eyes practically glued to Shinichi's form. He wanted to be together like this with Shinichi. To wake up together, make Shinichi his coffee to draw him out of his zombie-like morning-trace. To talk to Shinichi and trust him with his deepest secrets and...

He was so deeply in love it hurt and he just wanted Shinichi.

"So... about yesterday..."

Shinichi moaned again and rested his head against the cup.

"What happened...?" Shinichi croaked and Kaito stared at him in incomprehension. Then he laughed. Because really? Really?

Okay, it might be his fault but still... well, at least he had a few more tries to convince Shinichi otherwise.

 **Operation Seduction – twenty-something (think it was eight?) try: Failure. Just... (◞ ‸ ◟** **；** **) I'm not even surprised anymore. Lady Luuuuuuuuuuuck...**

* * *

…

… …

… … …

* * *

Operation Seduction – thirty-four: Out of ideas (╥_╥) Confess bluntly?

Well. He had a heist coming up and would have to prepare that one first, however it seemed apart from just holding Shinichi in place and telling him so his face, Kaito would never get anywhere. And he was not willing to give up on his oblivious, romance-ignorant, confusing, beautifully brilliant soul-mate. He just had to win him over to this idea.

But hey, stealing was his expertise. He would gain the heart of his soul-mate, no matter what...

* * *

 **A/N:**

* * *

Okay. So this? This was so much fun to write. For all that Chapter 4 seemed to want to elude me first, once I started I could hardly stop. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had with writing!

On the other hand, it gave me a heart attack. My PC crashed once I finished and I wasn't sure if I had saved it. Luckily, not much was missing. Phew.

Ok, other than that I am unsure if I want to bring a little smut or not in the last chapter. I would love to hear your opinion, but I'm also a little afraid it will influence me? I'm a people pleaser :P But as most of Chapter 5 is still a mystery to even myself I'm not promising anything, just considering options ^^

Oh yeah. So far people seemed more interested in TSSC, so I'm contemplating starting that one instead of the sequel.


	5. 5: Cat that got the canary cream

_**Chapter 5: Cat that got the canary cream**_

* * *

Shinichi was a bit put out. Last time he had seen Kaito it had been several days ago, and half of that meeting he didn't even remember anymore. He had the feeling something happened, because when he had asked Kaito had let out a slightly hysterical sounding laugh, but when asked he had just said it was okay, he would tell him later.

Now Shinichi was unsure if he shouldn't have pressed for an answer then and there, because since then Kaito had been a bit down and distracted and didn't seem to have as much time as usual. He missed his friend, but was too awkward and social incapable to right whatever seemed to have gone wrong. And it was galling that he couldn't find out just _**what**_ was wrong.

Sighing he rubbed the bridge of his nose and resolved to talk to Kaito soon, as there was no other possibility of getting whatever had soured their friendship out of the way. Well... after the heist, if Kid managed to slip through his grasp again. Tomorrow at the latest. He would bake some chocolate-cookies and try to cheer him up, because it was almost unnatural to see Kaito not being his smiling, colourful bright self.

Right. Heist time. He had a soul-mate to hunt down (if the issue with Kaito would stop distracting him from that, it would be _so_ much easier).

The heist was announced directly, not due to a riddle this time, but more of a calling card that Kid would come and take the Azure Ocean Heart, a priceless blue diamond. The security was ridiculous, but as Shinichi was looking over the scene, not impossible to break. The stone had been handed over for a gallery in a hotel, which of course meant that there were holes in the security. It was probably the reason why Kaitou Kid had not bothered with a riddle, the announcement had been sudden too, to make it harder for thieves to try stealing the gem. Normally it sat in safely in some bank vault probably, which made it a once in a lifetime opportunity, so Shinichi was not at all surprised by he heist. In fact, he had read the announcement of the gallery and started to prepare for Kid's call, on the off-chance that Kid would find the event too good to pass up. Thus he had for once the time to study the surroundings way before the heist was made public and before the Task Force shut everyone out, trying and failing to capture the thief once more.

And he had used that time well. He knew the layout like the back of his hand, the in's and out's and every possible route. He had actually gone so far as to plan a heist of his own, trying to come up with ways to steal the gem – and to escape.

With those plans in his head he felt better prepared than ever, nearly vibrating in excitement because he knew that for once he was not a step behind Kid. And that little step had always been missing when he tried to catch his soul-mate.

Looking at he clock he nodded to himself and went outside to avoid the mayhem that the start of the heist would bring.

* * *

• • **S** • •

* * *

The heist had proceeded much like he had thought. Colourful, flashy, just the way Kaitou Kid usually was. But the after-play had changed drastically. This time, because he had prepared himself (and begged a few of the division one to actually help him out, pulling strings with Megure who actually bribed Nakamori into complying to his wishes), he was able to cut off Kaitou Kid's easiest escape routes, herding him around the hotel. No matter how good, even Kaitou Kid would tire of running all those steps. Shinichi had been scared he would use one of the Hotel rooms to escape, but the windows didn't open and there were enough other routes that the thief would hopefully think he was safe enough. So far his plan seemed to work, Kid, not expecting division One to actually join in the fun this time around, found most of the routes cut off. A few new... inventions (read: failed experiments turned useful) from the professor helped a lot too. Like the sticky substance that reminded Shinichi of a giant spiderwebs that he had put up in quite a few corridors and that Kid seemed to avoid after the last one he had tried to cut had eaten his knife...

Okay, so maybe it was not quite safe yet, but not harmful to humans at least. Or walls. Metal though...

Well, that being said Shinichi felt a little bad for chasing his soul-mate around like a deer that was being hunted for sport. But not bad enough to stop. Which led to the current situation: He was chasing the white specter up to the topmost floor of the building, where a large swimming-pool was situated. Even prepared the thief had managed to wiggle past him and Shinichi was determined to not loose this one chance at catching his match. Gritting his teeth he forced himself to run faster, to catch up. All the running around Kid had already done was showing effect. He could see that the hairs sticking out of that hat were damp with sweat, see that Kid was breathing a lot harder. And he was slower too, if only a little but even that little bit was enough.

Sprinting as hard as he could he could feel his muscles burning, but he was determined to get to Kid and finally force him to meet him. At least he deserved an explanation for all the avoiding-acts the thief had pulled.

With a completely reckless jump he tackled Kid to the tiled-floor of the hotel's swim-pool, the phone the phantom thief had been holding, as well as the gem skidded over the floor and plunged into the water of the pool with two closely followed splashes. Together they landed in an utterly graceless heap of tangled limps, Shinichi was sure his knees would feel the impact for days to come and noting a little grimace Kaitou Kid was not faring better. Almost instantly the thief tried to squirm away, and lacking another method Shinichi clung to him like an octopus, straddling Kid and using every ounce of his strength to hold on and keep the phantom thief beneath him _**and**_ restrained. Wouldn't do to give the thief the chance to gas him into oblivion.

"F-finally c-" he coughed "-caught you." he managed to bring out and then could hit himself over the head for his words. That's what he gave his soul-mate as a mark? What about all the things he had thought up when he realized his soul-mate was Kid and he had the chance to make it a nice sentence, something...

Urgh! Instead it was a stuttered out 'Finally caught you'! For heaven's sake!

"Uhm." Kid was stiff in his arms, breathing so hard that he was almost coughing and gasping for breath himself, while obviously realizing that he wouldn't be released any time soon. Slowly his struggles stilled. But hands kept Shinichi's own captured in a ridiculous stalemate. Like Shinichi was going to run, though it probably had more to do with keeping him from unmasking the thief.

However Shinichi was frustrated to see no sign of Kid recognizing him as his soul-mate. Frowning he sat up a little, practically straddling Kid. While being careful not to give him a chance to escape. That he was practically plastering himself on a stranger was... well food for thoughts later on. No matter how nice Kid felt.

"Why are you... avoiding me...?" he panted, hands closed around Kid's wrists and if Kid was trying to keep being difficult, Shinichi would be as blunt as needed. The thief under him blinked, almost dazed, his hat still casting a shadow. However Kid had managed to keep it on his head was a mystery for another time.

"Uhm... you... you are kinda a detective? It's sort of my duty to avoid you?" Kid did not sound completely sure about that himself, which Shinichi counted in his favour. A little.

Blinking Shinichi was floundering a little at Kid's answer. That... still didn't sound like Kid just found out that he was his soul-mate.

"But..." for a moment he drew blank, shoulders slumping in abject misery. Did Kid really not want to be his soul-mate? Had he already known and was avoiding him?

"... you are my...match?" he hated how small his voice sounded as he avoided looking at Kid, for once really fearing the reaction. It was his soul-mate! He didn't want to get rejected by his soul-mate. It felt horrible just thinking about it. Oh, he would be able to live, sure, but it would hurt nevertheless. And also... there was Kaito, who had made some advances that made Shinichi think he did want a relationship. He was not very sure but he didn't want to reject Kaitoeither. Not really. On the other hand was his soul-mate. He wanted to give him a chance but Kaitou Kid was making that very hard right now and Shinichi did like Kaito. A lot. It was confusing.

When only silence met his words he gathered his courage and finally looked up at the shadowed face.

Kid was gaping at him.

"What?!" frustrated and already feeling defensive he crossed his arms (or tried to, only to give up as Kid was still holding on to his wrists) and bit the inside of his cheek. If Kaitou Kid rejected him, he would not show the thief how much it would cost him!

"W-w..." Kid stuttered "...what?" he finally croaked out and then cleared his throat. He sounded terribly confused, which in return befuddled Shinichi. Did Kid not know after all? How could that be?

"You are my soul-mate. How can you not know about it?!" Shinichi frowned down at Kids form, sitting up and loosening his hold a little without trying to be obvious about it.

Was his soul bond defect? Was that even possible? There were people who never found their soul-mate, it was indeed possible that there were one-sided bonds?

If so, Shinichi would have preferred to have no words at all on his wrist.

"Ah. Yes, I mean... you are. But... but how do you know?" Shinichi reeled back a little, his hands almost releasing Kid completely, not that the thief seemed to realize that, as he made no move to throw Shinichi off.

So Kid _**did**_ know about them being soul-mates? Now Shinichi was really confused about what was going on right now.

"Why wouldn't I know? Of course I know because you said the words..." Shinichi rubbed his arm slightly, finally giving up on restraining Kaitou Kid and allowing the thief to raise up a little by putting his weigh on his elbows behind him.

His gaze kept shifting between his covered arm, to Kid and flitting away. He didn't like being unable to control this situation and feeling out of depth. He really was not used to not understanding a situation but Kid really managed to confound him.

Maybe he should retreat, gather his bearings and try again later? He was loath to let Kid go, since he was really hard to catch.

Resting his hand on the floor he hesitated a second longer than finally rose from Kid who instantly sat up. Due to the top hat Shinichi was not sure about the expression, but when he took a slight step away, the thief's hand snatched his wrist again, holding him in place.

"Wait."

Looking down at Kid he hesitated, feeling conflicted, before extracting his hand carefully and raising an eyebrow.

It was the first time he had seen Kid lost for words, and realized that this was not the thief, but the persona behind the mask.

Funny. He sounded a little like Kaito.

"You know..." Shinichi said, gathering his courage.

"If you are averse to … to trying I would understand." it would be hard to make a relationship between a thief and a detective work. It did bother Shinichi, but he was convinced fate would not pair him off with a petty criminal. And if Kaitou Kid was one thing, it was mysterious and inscrutable. There had to be a valid, convincing cause that had put Kaitou Kid on his track. Who knew what reasons he had for his robberies. It was not money, or he wouldn't give the gems back.

"But I thought I had to at least try." Shinichi found it hard to express his feelings but there was already enough miscommunication between them that it seemed logical to just put it out on the table, no matter that he was basicly squirming under the silent gaze of the thief.

"I mean... that's... that's what you do if you find your soul-mate? And... and if you don't feel like that, that's... that's fine. I mean, I could live with that and I would just prefer the truth." Shinichi wanted to die on the spot "You know... uh.. being a detective I'm kinda big on truth. So..." he was babbling and he had a feeling like he had a shovel in his hand and was digging a hole in front of a stone with his name on it. "and... and I met someone I really like and... I keep putting him off and chasing after you and... that's just..." he sighed and put his head in his hands (the hole had to be more than 6 ft by now and seemed to grow deeper and deeper) and finally groaned out "I just... would you just say something?"

"... Do you know how frustrating it was that not a single one of my plans seemed to get through to your thick skull?!"

Shinichis head snapped up in disbelieve, watching open mouthed as Kaitou Kid was taking off his hat and monocle and …

And turned into Kaito Kuroba.

Shinichi blinked once. Then again.

The image didn't change.

And then it clicked. The puzzle piece that had eluded him all the time.

"Oh. _Oh!_ "

And then he was laughing. A little hysterically but laughing, because this? This was just ridiculous, their dancing around each other, chasing and chasing like a cat after it's own tail. He had always prided himself on being intelligent, shows what he knows.

Warm hands settled on his shoulders and he looked into Kaito's warm amethyst-coloured eyes, that crinkled in mirth of their own as Kaito tenderly leaned closer to Shinichi, resting his forehead against Shinichis.

"Hello."

Feeling warm all over (and especially in his cheeks, that were beginning to hurt from smiling so much), Shinichi's reply was almost breathless.

"Hello yourself."

He didn't know how long they stood there, drinking each other in but Shinichi wouldn't have minded if it lasted for eternity. As it was, a distant shouting forced them to separate.

"You should go." Shinichi reluctantly allowed, clearing his throat awkwardly and still feeling the heat lingering in his cheeks.

"Hm. Not yet." Kaito backed off a little but apparently he was a god damn adrenaline junky or just plain reckless. Maybe it was his imagination but he could still feel the phantom breath of his soul-mate caressing his lips, the heat of Kaito's body close even through their clothes and was still able to smell Kaito. A fragrance of fireworks, chocolate and something sweet like almonds. It was addicting, but nothing more than the smile that seemed to mirror Shinichi's own.

"At least put on your hat..." Chuckling Kaito bowed down to pick the garment up, but didn't place it on his head yet. Instead he turned it in his hands, watching Shinichi as if Shinichi would suddenly decide to disappear like one of those illusions or magic tricks Kaito liked to use.

"I'm curious... when did I actually talk to you, if not in the library? And _what_ did I tell you?"

Shinichi let out an amused huff of laughter, eyes sparking in recognition.

" _ **You see, but you don't observe**_...!" he gleefully intones and delighted in the slight shudder and the little twitch of the hand that Kaito involuntary showed.

A Sherlock Holmes quote! Shinichi wanted to crow at that, ohh and it had happened completely accidental!

Still chuckling he grabbed the hems of his shirt and pulled it off, almost bursting out laughing at the look he got from Kaito, who suddenly went wide eyes and very red faced, before stuffing his white hat on his head as if that would help hide the burning ears. It was endearing! Feeling playful he threw his shirt in Kaito's face, if only to see him fumbling for it, before holding it in a clueless-confused way. His soul-mate was adorable.

"What are you doing?!" Kaito hissed mortified and Shinichi couldn't help but laugh again (he felt like he was walking on a cloud, that's how happy he was!).

"Silly, I've got a treasure to dive for."

He grinned and – in a fit of insanity or sudden loss of any respectability – shrugged off his trousers too. Then, standing only in his boxershorts and completely enjoying seeing Kaitou Kid, his soul-mate completely frozen, red faced expression as well as the appreciation and longing in his eyes, he took off the bandages that usually hid his soul-mark from prying eyes.

"After all, it's such _**a beautiful night for a beautiful gem**_. It would be a waste to leave it at the bottom of the pool."

* * *

 **A/N:**

okay, this is a complete fluff story! I do hope you enjoyed it, I know there was not much plot-wise, but it was enjoyable to write and I hope you enjoyed to read it. As I said, there is a possibility of a Sequel named Blank Canvas, which I might or might not start to write if people are interested in it.

As it is, I will probably try to concentrate more on my main story Tfi

Thank you for continuing to read and review, I loved hearing your thoughts throughout the story progress.

Special Thanks to Qwopisinthemailbox, who had to endure being spammed and spoilered at all times of the day :P


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